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Kort McCumber
Singer-songwriter Kort McCumber weaves a rich and diverse tapestry of musical experience, skill and energy into each and every one of his many musical endeavors. A classically trained pianist & cellist (he learned from his mom, Joy Myers, who played for the Jacksonville Symphony for more than two decades) today Kort plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, piano, bouzouki, cello and more.
Over the last ten years Kort honed his skills as a working musician playing more than 1000 live shows throughout the U.S. and Europe. His first CD released in 1999 and he is currently putting the finishing touches on his sixth project, “Lickskillet Road”, featuring appearances from Vince Gill, Sally Van Meter, Don Conoscenti and more. Each CD offers a glimpse into the life and musical direction of a blossoming singer-songwriter. The newest CD is proof positive that if one stays true to their passion, great things ensue.
Kort writes, plays and sings Americana – equal parts folk, country, blues and bluegrass, with a healthy dose of something fresh. After moving to Colorado in 2004, the music took a decidedly more country/bluegrass turn and dug deeper into the roots of his Scotch-Irish heritage. Those roots are evident as well in his golf game. Kort played collegiate golf at UVA and Florida. Sister Beth Wilberger, who plays fiddle and sings harmonies with Kort, also played collegiate golf but at Florida State. His Father Jim owns McCumber Golf, a worldwide leader in course design and operations and Uncle Mark spent nearly 30 years on the PGA Tour, playing today on the Senior Tour.
Kort lives with his wife Amy and their two dogs, Guinness & Nugget, “on top of the world at the bottom of Lickskillet Road,” just west of Boulder Colorado. If you spent a moment by the river you’d wonder why he ever leaves. But, thankfully, he does, bringing his musical verve to venues far and wide. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch it soon at a venue near you.
A bit about Kort…
I first met Kort at the famed Bluegrasss Academy. Planet Bluegrass. Lyons, Colorado. Band Camp. We got stuck together in some class, in the woods, behind the main stage, the first morning of camp, at something that was sort of like “Bluegrass Jamming 101.” Kort, I noticed, was a fairly decent upright bass player – great time, great technique, great ear, great energy – and we needed a bass player for our late night circle. I asked him to join us. Turns out, he wasn’t a bass player at all. He’d only recently picked up the upright – recently like, that morning! Coulda fooled me. In fact, he did fool me, that morning and all week long, getting better every day and almost each passing hour with an energetic enthusiasm that just didn’t dissipate.
Sometime later that day I learned that Kort was, in fact, a songwriter – a songwriter, a singer, a guitar player, a classically trained pianist & cellist, a harmonica player, mandolin, banjo & bazouki player, and, best of all, all- around good guy from Jacksonville, Florida. Since then, he’s picked up a few more instruments, recorded a few more albums and remained, all the while, an all-around good guy. He’s also become a good friend, a more polished musician & singer, a co-writing partner, a studio whiz, a masterful sideman and a more soulful lead-man. At the heart of it all is the music. If I call it eclectic, to me, it just sounds like a thrown-together, mish-mash of this and that, a smorgasbord of whatever is handy. But Kort’s music is more well-conceived than that. Not just this and that, but the best of this, the truest of that; the noticeable strain of one genre and the hidden thread of another; a richly woven tapestry of folk, country, bluegrass, singer-songwriter, rock, roll and reverent. New songs with a hint of old that belies his years. And that’s just what comes through on the records.
Live, it all takes on a more vigorous verve. “You never know where the next great memory is gonna come from,” I once heard him say, “And that’s what makes it so easy to get up for each and every show.” Whether he’s playing solo a weekday gig where he currently resides in Boulder, Colorado, or with any one of the many band projects he seems to always have going, his energy and enthusiasm never wane. What I once thought was mere youthful exuberance has turned out to be seasoned, mature, motivated passion. He wants to get it right and it shows. With five CD’s completed and more on the way – always more on the way, I’ve never known him not to be planning or working on that next great project – his library speaks for itself. Pick up one of his CD’s and check it out, or better yet, head to the next live show – you’ll find both listed at kortmusic.com. Good songs well rendered. That’s what you’re in store for. And that’s what you’ll get. Good songs from a good guy who seems to just keep getting better.
-Kevin DeForrest, songwriter
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